Red Cross To Put Up First Aid Stations For Dinagyang Festival

Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Iloilo chapter will be putting up first aid stations to ensure the safety and well-being of those who will participate and witness the festivities for Dinagyang Festival 2016 in Iloilo.

From January 22-25, PRC Iloilo will put up a total of 17 first aid stations and will station an ambulance at the Bonifacio Drive in Iloilo City. The chapter will also deploy 3 outboards, 2 mobile kitchens, and one each of rescue boat, steel boat, rescue truck and service vehicle.

Dinagyang is being celebrated to show reverence for the Santo Niño and is celebrated every fourth Sunday of January, right after the Sinulog and Ati-Atihan festivals.

“The Dinagyang Festival is a good time for Ilonggos to reflect on what they have come through as a people after the disasters and calamities they faced in recent years. It is also a time to be thankful for the blessings you have received and think of how each and every one can keep yourselves, your families and your communities safe and more resilient to weather any disasters that may come your way,” said PRC chairman Richard Gordon.

“Being a member of the Red Cross by joining the Red Cross 143 volunteer group in your communities is a good way to learn how to be resilient and be prepared for disasters and calamities. Volunteer for the Red Cross and be instrumental in keeping your families and communities safe,” Gordon added.

Chairman Gordon will also be in Iloilo during the Dinagyang Festival to visit projects under the Haiyan Recovery Program in Ajuy, Balasan, and Passi City. Recovery projects in Iloilo are supported by British Red Cross and Korean Red Cross.

Iloilo is one of the nine provinces that are being supported by the PRC and partners in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement under the Haiyan Recovery Program. As of January 8, the said program has completed 5,547 homes out of the target 6,611 houses to be built in the municipalities of Ajuy, Balasan, and Lemery.

Aside from shelter, 5,688 Haiyan affected families in Iloilo were also provided with livelihood assistance in the form of P10,000 conditional cash grants that the beneficiaries used to bring back their sources of livelihood or start a new source of livelihood.

In the municipality of Carles, eight classrooms have already been built or rehabilitated and one school (Poong Elementary School) was equipped with a water and sanitation facility; while a health facility was established in the municipality of Lemery.

Overall, as of January 8, the Red Cross has already built a total of 68, 614 houses; provided livelihood support to 59,218 families; 37 schools provided with improved access to water and sanitation facilities; 49 health facilities repaired and reconstructed; and 431 classrooms rehabilitated and constructed.

Aside from assistance to areas devastated by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the PRC is also providing assistance to provinces that were devastated by recent typhoons like Lando (Koppu) and Nona (Melor).

PRC is continuously accepting donations to help in the recovery operations in areas devastated by recent disasters. For more information, call telephone numbers 790-2300 locals 807 and 826. (PRC)